The First Time
by Dean.is.Batman
Summary: It happened in a stable. AU.


It happened in a stable.

Of all the places Merlin had imagined it in his mind, the stable had never been one of them. It had been darkened inside the building, with only shafts of brilliant light coming through the swaying doors at one end. The smell of manure was overpowering and, almost, a little reassuring. You always knew where you stood with horse dung.

There were no sudden revelations and no angel choirs ringing clear in his ears. Arthur simply walked through the doors, wrinkled his nose at the smell and demanded to know why the pitchfork was working independently. Merlin had frowned, brow furrowing, and then realization struck and he almost fainted.

The pitchfork fell to the ground.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Merlin had said, the innocence in his tone reaching a honey like consistency.

Arthur had folded his arms across his chest and given his servant The Look. The one that said "do you really think I'm that stupid? - of course you do! - but I'm not so stop playing around". It was a rather long look, all things considered.

"What?" Merlin had asked, shifting uncomfortably under the knowing gaze of his master.

Arthur threw his hands up in the air and rolled his eyes with an exaggerated sigh. "I give up!" his eyes had shuttered into twin glares, "you, Merlin, are impossible!"

Merlin swallowed hard. He would have to do some quick talking to get out of this fix, but he was pretty sure he could manage it. This was not the first time Arthur had come close to finding out about his magic. Then it happened, the dreaded words, the feared acknowledgment. The end of everything.

"Merlin. I know about your gifts," the words were said in a low, reverent tone even as Arthur turned away so that his face was hidden from sight, "I've always known."

So much for the many ways he had imagined telling the Prince of Camelot. Merlin wanted to deny it, to shake his head and laugh away the nerves, but Arthur had known and kept him safe and lying now would feel too much like spitting in the heirs face. The black haired boy bit his lip, his knees starting to shake with fear.

What if this was a trick and Arthur was trying to fish for verbal confirmation of what he had seen moments before...if that were the case, Merlin had always known he might die at the hands of a Pendragon. Still, it felt too soon. He was not ready to burn for the powers he had been born to carry.

"You're not going to say anything?" Arthur broke the uncomfortable silence with the bitter cry, "fine then. Forget I said anything and go back to your chores...the normal way."

"I'm sorry."

The words were out of his mouth before he could think. Arthur froze, his shoulders tensing under the nearly ever-present chain mail shirt. Merlin knew then that Arthur had not known – at least, not for certain – until that very second. The admission, in the form of a two world apology, had left them both speechless for long minutes. Finally Arthur had turned to face his friend, his servant, and his blue eyes had been kind and...a little sad.

"I'm sorry."

Merlin's eyebrows lowered in confusion. "Why are you sorry?"

"My father's laws, his unbending, stubborn rules have caused so much pain for so many. You. I never wanted you to be one of those people."

A tear welled up in Arthur's left eye, but both young men ignored it's presence. Kings-in-training did not cry for pain their servants had been forced to endure.

"He had his reasons," Merlin defended the King automatically, "he was defending Camelot." The nervous laugh came then and everything felt alright.

Arthur smiled, a soft, kind thing that lit his face up and gave his regal bearing an even more powerful appearance.

"Merlin...When I am King my father's laws will not apply. I promise you that...but...until then could you be a bit more careful?" he pleaded, knowing that if he witnessed the use of magic again he would have no choice but to take action, "don't make me hurt you."

Merlin did not know how to respond to that so he had bowed, a small head nod and the lowering of his shoulders, backing away from the Prince. A feeling of awkwardness had washed over him so strong he thought it might kick his shaking knees out from under him. He swallowed.

"Yes, sire. Sorry, sire. It won't happen again, sire," the words tripped over themselves in his haste to reassure the Prince.

Arthur's shoulder's relaxed. "Alright then."

Merlin found himself bowing and even though he felt like a bumbling idiot, he really was not sure what else to do with himself. The Prince rolled his eyes again and a playful glint sprang to his blue eyes.

"For goodness sake stop that and get back to work...the proper way this time."

The awkwardness flowed into something more fraternal and familiar, Merlin could practically feel the void between them – that black place separating them which had contained his secret – fill to overflowing with a brotherly acceptance.

"You knew."

Merlin whispered the words in the same reverent tone Arthur had used earlier. They gave each other shared looks of "this never happened" followed almost instantly by simultaneous grins of "we don't have to hide this anymore" and then Arthur left. Simple as you please. It happened in the stable.

THE END


End file.
